PGA Tour / US Open: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).First in driving distance.
First in putts per green in regulation.
Fifth in total putts.
Eighth in greens in regulation.
That's the trick Harrison Frazar pulled last week; if he can do it again he'll win the US Open. He has serious power, more than enough for Congressional, but one would expect his short game to desert him in the end.

2).These wins have hidden bennies: Apart from sponsorship bonuses and, in this case, a 2 1/2 year Tour exemption, Frazar also qualifies for Bridgestone, the PGA Championship, Kapalua and Augusta; and probably the HSBC Champions. And to think a few months ago he wrote an SI article about packing the pro game up after 13 winless years and $9M in prizemoney.

3).Roary Sabbatini's just had two weeks off, presumably at His Majesty Tim Finchem's pleasure. Now he gets to return to the scene of Bencranegate, where in 2005 he left pedestrian Ben to his own devices and desires on the 17th green while he played the 18th without him. Expect Roary to have another fortnight's holiday, win this week or lose.

4).Who's got form here? Only four players in the field have won at Congressional, all before Rees Jones redid (read lengthened) the Blue Course: Ernie Els (1997), Sergio Garcia (2005), KJ Choi (2007) and Anthony Kim (2008). Apart from Sergio, other Europeans who have decent records at Congressional include:
Freddie Jacobson, 2nd in the 2008 AT&T; Justin Rose with a couple of top thirty AT&T finishes; Luke Donald with a 13th place in 2005; and, of course, Alex Cejka with a 9th place finish in 2008.

5).Oops, last but by no means least, a certain Lee Westwood who finished T19th (with T.Woods) at the 1997 US Open here. Others from Team GB&I who made the 1997 cut were five Ryder Cuppers, Monty, DC, Sirfaldo, Coltart and Broadhurst.
AND: The son of a moustachioed itinerant goalscorer who plied his trade for, among other more distinguished teams: Bradford Park Avenue, Southport and Stockport. Now: No Googling allowed, who was the son of a strikerman who finished 24th that year????

6).Others who have at least two top tens in the five events competitors could have played include:
Furyk, with 2 x 3rds, a 5th, and a 7th.
Allenby, with a 3rd and a 6th.
Mahan, 2nd and 6th.
Snedeker, 5th and 8th.
Els and Kim, (both languishing in abysmal form).

7).Apart from the aged Fred Funk, there is no PGA Tour winner who could be described as a local. But: Mike Fluff Cowen is a member at Congressional, and a fine golfer in his own right. That may explain Furyk's terrific record here, but Jimmy's been out of sorts this year and it's difficult to believe Fluff can help him to the winners' enclosure.

8).Been having a look at Paddy Power's prices, and my five European value bets, paying each way down to 6th, are:
11/1 Westwood
60/1 Garcia
66/1 Karlsson
70/1 Rose
200/1 Noren.
My three to beat the field would be Choi, Mahan, Westwood, not necessarily in that order! Sure Donald and Stricker are among those in superb form (and Stricker also has a good record here) but this course will be unrelenting to shorter hitters unless they hit at least 75% of the fairways; it's not just the long irons into greens, it's the strength to get out of jail.

9).Before we know it, we'll be talking about Royal St.George's and the R&A mini-money-list is now led by, yup, Harrison Frazar, followed by Goydos, Jobe, CHIII and Holmes.

10).Lastly, the Nationwiders are hard at it in Kansas, Christian and Owen hopefully putting four good rounds together and Russell Knox rediscovering his form of a few weeks ago.

I can see Webb Simpson having a big week this week. His form has been impressive this season, very consistent. Averaging >292 yards off the tee, he has the length to cope here, 20th in Total Driving, 12th in Ball Striking, 68% GIR, 19th in Scrambling, 12th in Birdie Conversion and from 50-125 yards out his stats are also really solid. Only 97th in 3 putt avoidance though, this could be his big problem this week.

I don't fancy Simpson to win, I suspect Watney, Westwood, Stricker and perhaps Kaymer will be will be the players to beat... but we usually see a younger player flirt with major success and Simpson looks like a player ready to push on. 12/1 for a top 10 with BWin for those interested. How do you rate his chances Kwini?

Good read as always Kwini,

I remember Ed Fryatt being the next big thing for stateside Europeans, and having a good US Open, was that 1997? Had forgotten his dad was a footballer though, if I ever knew. Whatever happened to him...?

Funny you should mention Cejka's good record, he's only playing this week cos he had a high finish at another favourite track of his this time last year. Wonder if he can pull the same trick two years running? And am I right in thinking that the mini-money-list for RSG includes this week? If so, it makes it a great chance for Cejka and Jacobson to steal a march.

I'm with Redrage anyway, my tip is Watney. Long, fairly straight, decent short game: should be the perfect US Open player. And I think winning at Doral might've helped his final round nerves a little.

Redrage,
I like Webb Simpson a LOT! My selection for 2009 ROTY tho 606'ers derided me for it!!

Good job with Ed Fryatt, Ned, not many people remember him! He had some good results but then disappeared, hasn't played a PGA Tour sponsored event since being dq'd in 2005.

I remember his Dad, even when he was a strike force with Bill Atkins (later a PFC flop) at Stockport! Later decamped to Las Vegas!!

Do you think "mercurial" is an appropriate description of Cejka? And Jacobson?? Hope they both do well, sort of contrarian figures on a Tour of such uniformity.

kwinigolfer wrote:Redrage,
I like Webb Simpson a LOT! My selection for 2009 ROTY tho 606'ers derided me for it!!

It's tough to award it somebody who hasn't secured a w, so I can see where they may have been coming from. 4 top 10s in 09 was good going though, he has almost matched that so far this season in a third of the events. He is progressing well.

NedB-H wrote:
I'm with Redrage anyway, my tip is Watney. Long, fairly straight, decent short game: should be the perfect US Open player. And I think winning at Doral might've helped his final round nerves a little.

I think it is just a matter of time before he wins a major, he has been there or thereabouts at the majors, Players and WGCs for the last couple of seasons. Once he wins one, he could go on to win a few. I thought the same about Geoff Ogilvy though and he just hasn't kicked on as expected when it comes to the majors, which just shows how hard it is to win one and cope with the expectation that comes with it.

Kwini fabulous read as always, what a hard life Fazar has led $9m in prize money and willing to give up, if only I could have such misfortune to bag millions!

That said I did think he was very impressive last week all round if he can produce some of those stats this week, could go back to back or top 10 at least, his win with such stats has helped announce him to some who were not aware of him before the W.

Hoping Roary Sabbatini has a bad week meaning we don't have to put up with seeing him on our screens to much he really is that irritating he makes me want to reach for the Canestan Cream... Have not missed seeing or hearing his name in recent commentary.

Good prices on offer for Sergio and Noren as outside bets for a high placed finish. As for Webb Simpson I've followed him since his first season on tour and think he has "game" good driver and ball striker and an all round good guy, some impressive performances this season, what odds would he be to get his breakout win in the US open worth a look maybe?

My fancy is Mahan though, fancied him for this one for a while and think it's his best chance for a Major I like how he plays the game, just hope he can get his chipping more solid instead of streaky then he can shoot up OGWR. Stricker and Donald both great players 2 of my favourites but like you think they'd need at least 75% fairways because those are some long approaches.

Dead excited by this week thanks for the article....Thinking Westwood,Cink and Snedeker may go close this week. I am just hoping Harrington gets some form this week he certainly needs to!

Thanks All,

Don't you just love Phil Mickelson, especially when he's talking about Rees Jones's handiwork:
"As I was saying earlier about how 18 is a brilliantly designed hole. I think 10 is exactly the opposite, because the average guy can't play that hole. He can't carry that water and get it stopped on that green. So when I play that hole, 3 is a great score. I'll take 3 every day and if I happen to make 4 so be it."

'Course, 18 is the original (most recent anyway) 17th, just lengthened a bit, while 10 is the old 18th, turned around my Rees Jones.

10 will be the first tee shot for the players in either Round 1 or Round 2 so expect some big numbers against par right from the start.

Mickelson never gives a dull or dishonest interview....Did you read Schwartzel and Oosthuizen's interviews interesting stuff.

Great article Kwini.

Maverick wrote:
Hoping Roary Sabbatini has a bad week meaning we don't have to put up with seeing him on our screens to much he really is that irritating he makes me want to reach for the Canestan Cream... Have not missed seeing or hearing his name in recent commentary.

Good prices on offer for Sergio and Noren as outside bets for a high placed finish. As for Webb Simpson I've followed him since his first season on tour and think he has "game" good driver and ball striker and an all round good guy, some impressive performances this season, what odds would he be to get his breakout win in the US open worth a look maybe?

Got to agree with you there Mav, there's just something about Sabbatini that gets on my nerves; I think it's a combination of arrogance and ignorance. Noren's a good outside bet and having followed him recently around Celtic Manor, I think we may see him in the top 10, he's sneaky long and played well under pressure.

Good luck to Sergio – I’ll have a flutter on him……. hope that doesn’t jinx him.

Usual dull, uninformed rubbish Kwini have noticed that people seem to have completley discounted young Rory this time. Can see why though, and not just for the car crash at Augusta, as many of us on here have mentioned that he struggles to put 4 good rounds together. I've just read this though, which seems to be a slight change to his past routines and callender etc;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/13775117.stm

It does look like Chubby and his team have had a few words with the wonderkid, but the one big thing that stood out for me, was that he played practice rounds at Congressional last week and went home only to arrive back this week. I had heard that the conditions last week were wet, soft fairways and soft greens. This week will be completley the opposite, so will last week be a waste of time?

Doc wrote:
It does look like Chubby and his team have had a few words with the wonderkid, but the one big thing that stood out for me, was that he played practice rounds at Congressional last week and went home only to arrive back this week. I had heard that the conditions last week were wet, soft fairways and soft greens. This week will be completley the opposite, so will last week be a waste of time?

He never went home. He did a bit of travelling around and played Pine Valley.

benson,
Agree about the Saffers, what a fabulous record they're piling up in big events! Still waiting for Sterne to figure out if he wants to compete and sooner or later Thomas Aiken will break through on the big stage.
But: Louis Oosthuizen has made a complete cods of his schedule this year and is almost certain to have trouble completing his minimum 15-event requirement. (Paul Caey also.)

Hi Yads,
Other thing in Noren's favour is that he's played in the US for many years so at least has a flavour for what to expect - thought he looked pretty comfortable winning at Celtic Manor. (From what I could see from my armchair of course!)

doc,
Sure Lairdy is right, Rory had made a date to play with Ernie Els last week - no better person to show him around - then PV, then (I think) a corporate gig in New Jersey. Take a break then back to Congressional. Not sure what course conditions were like when he was there, they're seldom indicative of USGA set-up anyway, but I DO know it was miserably HOT last Wednesday and Thursday, close to 40C and unbearably oppressive.
At least he'll have learned to play in the worst conditions they're likely to encounter, how to pace himself, hydration etc. I'd expect him to play well this week.

Not sure where the pine valley travelling came from because rory stated last week after Congressional practice he was headed to Haiti for work with Unicef and he was snapped out the doing the ambassador bit, so if he fitted pine valley in as well as wet practice rounds seems to be an odd way to prep for one of the biggies, he is saying this course suits his game, but i can't see him doing anything to challenge the leaders this week.

kwinigolfer wrote:benson,
Agree about the Saffers, what a fabulous record they're piling up in big events! Still waiting for Sterne to figure out if he wants to compete and sooner or later Thomas Aiken will break through on the big stage.
But: Louis Oosthuizen has made a complete cods of his schedule this year and is almost certain to have trouble completing his minimum 15-event requirement. (Paul Caey also.)

Yep they do hopefully both can kick on and maybe win a second major each in the future, hoping compatriot Immelman can re-discover his form after his injury problems!

Mav,
Rory went straight to Haiti from Memorial, returned to play Congressional Wednesday and Thursday, PV on Friday etc etc. At least, that was the plan.

Mav,

Simpson is 150/1 with BWIn, or 100-125 with some other firms and most are paying 6 places if you go e/w.

Thanks for clearing that up for me Kwini, find that interesting especially after reading what Rory said to the bbc that he felt playing saturday and sunday before a major made it to long a week and he prefered to save himself for the following competitive weekend, seems he is contradicting himself unless he means playing the same course but still seems an odd pre major warm up to me

150/1 Simpson thats worth a punt

Good luck, I have dabbled and took 12/1 for a top 10 too.

Updated forecast for Congressional after three gorgeous warm, sunny, dry days for practice:
Thursday: Cool: High 76F, could be some morning showers, 40% chance of afternoon thiunderstorms. Breezy, up to 15 mph.
Friday: Warmer, high low 80's, mostly cloudy, 50% chance of rain.
Saturday: Hot, high 85F - 90F and sunny. Expected to be dry.
Sunday: Perhaps a little cooler, 85F with just a chance of a shower.

Want a daily update? Expect it here!

Robert Rock apparently only arriving tonight due to not receiving a visa!

RR!
And another RR is first alternate, according to Reuters, Richie Ramsay!
Can't see why it took so long for Rock to get his visa . . . . . Sure his caddie's thrilled to bits.

Just returned from two days of client golf in and around DC area. To a person, those in the know commented about the severity of the rough (no worse than any other open I think) and the new run off behind 16 (they think that could be a pivotal hole come Sunday). Met and chatted with Webb Simpson -- very nice guy, a lanky drink of water, but I'm not thinking he'll take home the Silver.

Looking forward to a great week. I suspect the crowds will be massive. McIlroy could surprise, and I made the early call on him at Augusta, but I'm leaning towards Rose from the Mother Country. (Wonder how Rory fared at Pine Valley? ... my suspicion is he never needed his driver!)

Shinnecock 2018! Flynn's best IMO.

Hi Sr,
Just read that about Shinnecock, great news. Lots of opinions on using new courses but I am questioning their wisdom with Chambers Bay (tho great for the North West to get recognized) and especially Erin Hills what with all the problems they've had - plenty of tried and tested Mid-West venues without endorsing bad behaviour and going to Erin Hills (wonder if Wisconsin will have any public employees left by then).

Have tried to keep up to date with players' transcripts from their pressers - apart from Phil's rant about #10, they seem to feel the set-up is fair. Wonder what they'll say when they're done?

I've seen glimpses of Webb Simpson at Hartford and Turning Stone - very impressive from what I could see. Off to the Travelers next Friday and hope he'll be there.

PS: Thought Sin City looked a little bit better, stayed at the Radisson which I'd never done before and the area round there was spotless, plus paid homage to Varick Street which also looked pretty good. They've torn some old buildings down in W.Utica which helps, even if it's only parking lots to replace them, they're not exactly paving paradise!

Should be pretty temperate weather at Congressional which should suit Team Europe; looking forward to it.

Kwin - Varick Street is pretty impressive, but as you point out most of West Utica has seen far better days.

Glad to hear downtown was clean. I remember a bustling place from the 60's and even when you descended upon the area it was lots busier. I'm always hoping for a resurgence, but don't see it on the horizon given the Utica infrastructure, weather and Empire State tax.

Wife and kids asked me what I wanted for Father's Day ... how about uninterrupted time in front of the big screen and some cold Saranac within arm's reach!

That's exactly what I have planned

kwinigolfer wrote:...Frazar also qualifies for Bridgestone, the PGA Championship, Kapalua and Augusta; and probably the HSBC Champions. And to think a few months ago he wrote an SI article about packing the pro game up after 13 winless years and $9M in prizemoney.

Interesting read once again Kwini. Thanks.

Frazar went 13 years winless for ~$9M and was thinking about packing up??? Nice work if you can get it!

Thanks nbs, Big thing with Frazar, I think, was struggling to get fit again after difficult injuries whilst trying to balance sport with the demans of a young family. I know, we've all done it, but it sounds as if he had some remunerating job opportunities from the Tour.


OK: Who's going to have to make do with an early breakfast Thursday?
Oh no, what are the chances? Shane Lowry first out of the traps, super_realist must have planned that one; but clearly he'll also be first to the lunchtime buffet - slim pickings for everyone else then.
Other early tee times of Europeans etc include:

7.00 a.m. Lowry
7.22: Levet, Havret, Cejka
7.33: Colsaerts
7.44: Casey, Harrington
7.55: McDowell
8.06: Group Sweden plus Group 1, 2, 3.
8.28: Rose, Karlsson

What's that UK time Kwini? I know our coverage is at 3pm-12am, so clearly we're getting most of the day...

7.00 a.m. in DC is noon in Pontypridd, so I think you get the lot!.

Good Luck to Lowry tomorrow....But a massive good luck to the three time major champion Padraig Harrington!!!!!

Hi kwini,

Don't really have a feeling about this year's U.S. Open. Usually very psyched up the few days leading up to the tourney but nothing right now. I'm sure when the live feed is slightly hidden and secretly streaming on the monitor at work tomorrow I'll be right with it and the bosses will be giving me the evil eye. (Especially since they always act like it's the end of the world with the millionth deadline in a row arriving and they can't catch me in the act but notice the smile on my face.)

Picked Donald and Kuchar for my A game and still like the choices. Does it seem like a number of major players such as Oosty, GMac and Paulie have thrown in the towel from the beginning of the season or what?!

Probably wrong on this but one of my few contentions with the top guns in this era are that they receive so much support and are set for life if they don't spend like a drunken sailor that they've lost a certain edge and only have to exert themselves when the call arises. Maybe that's the sense of urgency I'm not feeling from the entire field. And just maybe that sports reporting in general has grown so stale, oversaturated and run-of-the-mill that we're not getting a good reading on the matter.

Bad night for the Canucks. The Bruins completely outplayed and out-hustled them. Vancouver's execution has to go down as collectively as one of the worst in Stanley Cup history given that they somehow made the finals. A completely different story than the dominance they displayed during the regular season.

Skanks revenge on the Rangers is sweet. Love it when Tex and Cano lead the team. AFraud needs to move down to the 5 spot in the order. Will never happen though.

Just been reading about shinnecock great news I think personally my favourite course not only for the US Open but also the best course I simply have ever had the priviledge to play.

So its kick off time at 3pm, getting the work day out of the way early so I can camp out in front ov the tv this afternoon and see the opening day unfold. The 16th does look key and the fact the former 17th is now the 18th hole with the closely mown fringes and water immediately at the back o f the green it's going to be a tough finish.

Hi venice,
The Stanley Cup will return here, first time since Martin St.Loius brought it home in 2004. Never thought Claude Julien had it in him but no denying the Bruins, superior gameplan, on and off the ice. Great entertainment last night switching between Vancouver and The Stadium! Sounds like mayhem in Vancouver after the game though . . . . .

Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland:
61F, cloudy, with showers in the area. Temps only rising to low 70's and a good chance of thunderstorms this p.m.
Shane Lowry off with Chez Reavie and D.Kim in half an hour.
Computer already on the blink, and that won't be helped by the prehistoric leaderboards maintained by pgatour.com and the USGA.

Can't wait to see how the course plays - sounds like the guys teeing off on #10 as their first hole have a brutal start with the uphill 480+ yard 11th to negotiate as hole number two.
We know what it looks like on paper - let's see what the USGA has done to the grass.

It looks rubbish but the leaderboard that the europeantour.com site links is a bit quicker than the one pgatour.com does if it makes a difference to anyone who isnt watching on telly.

I see Loooooooook has birdied his first hole. If he can keep that up he'll be -18 for the day, should put him in quite a strong position

Fantastic start by one two three: two under on the difficult 10th. Would think that'll be the best of the day, especially for those starting their round there.
Horrid (Peter Oosterhuis's favourite word) start by Casey. Not sure what's wrong with Casey - he's hardly been playing, and in poor form when he does tee it up.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Can't wait to see how the course plays - sounds like the guys teeing off on #10 as their first hole have a brutal start with the uphill 480+ yard 11th to negotiate as hole number two.
We know what it looks like on paper - let's see what the USGA has done to the grass.

Either you have got this wrong Kwin and the 10th is a doddle or Donald, Yang and Cink have just gained about a shot and a half on the field with opening birdies there. I think its the latter tbh.

drive4show wrote:I see Loooooooook has birdied his first hole. If he can keep that up he'll be -18 for the day, should put him in quite a strong position

And now -2 through 2, -18 is still on!!

Cink and Luuke birdie 10 and 11. So much for a tough start for those beginning on the back 9! Westy behind already in the race for no. 1

Lairdy,
I'm sure it's the latter, plenty of doubles there already.
'Course, they could be using a forward tee and not the back tee that Mickelson was criticising the other day.

Let's see what the Round's stroke average is SJ, sure 10 and 11 will play as two of the toughest.

Tee on number 10(sounds american?) is slightly forward and to the left side according to the painfully slow offical web site.maybe Phil had some influence.

Decent start from Harrington better than I expected.

Very good start by Lowry too benson. Even par for Ireland after 17 holes.

No real surprises yet amongst the strugglers, tho Webb Simpson hasn't had the start he'd've wanted.

Kwini

I have been away for a few weeks in Espana and then had a family bereavement so haven't been on as much as usual. Missed a few fantasy events also. Great to see you on here now with the excellent articles. Keep it up.

Hayston

Hi Hayston, good to hear from you. Was in your sometime neck of the woods last week.

Yup, I'll write these notes, hope to come up with a few nuggets that didn't make the headlines. Hope they're interesting if not insightful!

Hoping that Martin Laird might enjoy a good week, hits it long and high and his putting has reached the goodenough level. All down to course management for him, hoping he'll play well even if he doesn't contend.

Looks like it will be a weekend of "miss-management" more than anything else -- which is a US Open trait.

Poor start for Simpson, and world #1 Luke started strong, but will need to right the ship. Good for GMac!

Lots of national prevailing wisdom going Phil's way at the moment. I'm still thinking Kuchar will do damage.

'Morning Shotrock,
Scoring slightly better than I thought it might be; nothing particularly electric but nothing really catastrophic as we're halfway through the morning "wave".
Didn't expect Lukey to have a great week but certainly didn't think he'd endure a string of six holes in six over par. Almost at the stage now where he can't afford to be over par for his next 27 holes. OK, birdie, that'll help the cause.

Wow, only went away for couple hours there and Luke has gone from a potential -18 round to scrapping it out at the bottom!! He'll bounce back.

Good to see Louis up there and Paddy having a steady round.

Not so good to see my picks of Choi and Simpson doing poorly. Mind you, still a long way to go.

Can't wait to get home to get watching it.

Woof,
KJ Choi up to +6, not at all how I planned it.